Conveying apparatus for milk cans



1951 W. H. E. WURDEMANN 2,572,233

CONVEYING APPARATUS FOR MILK CANS Filed Oct. 51, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

WJhe/m Luqmy Hem/1th 5-1717 Wurdqmm ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 23, 1951 CONVEYING APPARATUS FOR MILK CANS Wilhelm Ludwig Heinrich Ernst Wiirdemann,

The Hague, Netherlands, assignor to Vennootschap onder firma Postma & Feenstra, Greunsweg, Leeuwarden, Netherlands, a corporation of the Netherlands Application October 31, 1950, Serial No. 193,120 In the Netherlands October 30, 1948 1 Claim.

The dairy-industry is greatly in need of a rational apparatus for conveying milk-cans, which apparatus enables the cans to drip out during the transport and to be cleaned, if desired.

It is the object of this invention to meet this need by providing an improved conveying apparatus.

For this purpose the conveying apparatus according to the invention comprises a longitudinally reciprocating carrier, having a carrying rail and a series of supporting members located obliquely above said carrying rail, said carrier being destined for periodically supporting a number of milk-cans, a stationary supporting rail located at the one side of, parallel to and substantially in the same plane as the movable carrying rail, and a series of equi-distantly spaced supporting members located at the other side of, above and parallel to said carrying rail, which series of supporting members is movable at right angles to the vertical plane through the supporting rail for the alternative tilting from the one rail onto the other of the milk-cans resting on the relative rail.

The invention is illustrated hereinafter by means of an embodiment of the conveying apparatus with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the conveying apparatus;

Figs. 3 and 4 are end-views thereof in different operative positions.

The conveying apparatus comprises a frame I, which, along one of its upper edges, is provided with a stationary supporting rail 2 for temporarily supporting milk-cans 3 turned upside down.

At one side of the supporting rail 2 a carrier 4 is provided, comprising a frame work, the interconnected longitudinal girders 5 and 6 of which are supported by rollers l and 8 which are rotatably mounted in the frame I, over which rollers the carrier 4 can be reciprocated, parallel to the stationary supporting rail 2.

For this purpose the one end of a crankshaft mechanism 9 is coupled to the carrier, the other end of said mechanism being attached to the driving shaft ID.

The longitudinal girder 6 of the carrier 4 is provided with a supporting edge H, the concave parts 12 of which are designed to periodically support the body of a milk-can 3, whilst the dimensions of the carrier 4 are so chosen that, if the body of a milk-can 3 is placed into a concave part l2 of the supporting edge II, the neck of the can solely rests on the movable carrying rail 5 and is free from the stationary supporting rail 2.

At the same side of the stationary supporting rail 2, where the carrier 4 is provided, a second supporting member is arranged, which comprises a series of parallel arms l3. All said arms [3 have their lower ends mounted on a shaft l4 arranged longitudinally of the frame I and rotatably supported by said frame. On the shaft [4 an arm I5 is fixed which at its end carries a rotatable roller l6, through which the arm l5 rests on an eccentric disc ll, secured to the driving shaft [0.

By means of this eccentric disc I! the arms l3 are reciprocated at right angles to the vertical plane through the stationary supporting rail 2, whilst the movements of the carrier 4 and the series of arms [3 are so timed that the arms l3, which at their upper ends are provided with a supporting fork l8 keep the milk-cans 3, which are supported by then by the stationary supporting rail 2, out of reach of the carrier 4 during the period when said carrier 4 returns to its starting point, and that the arms I3, after transferring the milk-cans 3 to the carrier 4 by tilting said milk-cans from the stationary supporting rail 2 onto the movable carrying rail 5, retreat so far that the carrier 4, during its forward stroke, can convey the milk-cans 3 unimpededly until, at the end of said stroke, the milk-cans 3 are tilted back onto the stationary supporting rail 2 by the arms l3, whichhave returned by then.

In this manner the milk-cans are reliably transported from the supply-end to the discharge-end of the conveying apparatus without any risk of their capsizing or getting out of order in another way, whilst when the cans are on their way the residual milk in the cans has an ample opportunity to drip out, to which end the continuous inclined position of the milk-cans cooperates.

For this purpose a detachablegutter I9 is provided in the frame, wherein this residual milk is The rim of the neck of caught for further use. the milk-cans has nothing to suffer, because during the transport this rim is lifted olf the stationary supporting rail 2 and, therefore, is not exposed to wear and tear. If so desired the conveying apparatus can be simply constructed in such a way that it can also serve to clean the milk-cans during transport. For this purpose the stationary supporting rail 2 is constructed as a hollow body, upon which a number of spraying nozzles 20 is mounted. By connecting the hollow supporting rail 2 to the liquid source an amount of liquid can be sprayed into the milkcans during the period when said cans 3 are resting on the supporting rail 2 and are at a standstill, which liquid can drip away during the subsequent displacement of the cans.

In this construction the apparatus can be provided with a guard 2i covering the portion Where the spraying nozzles are located in order to stop the liquid from spurting about.

I claim:

A conveying apparatus for milk-cans and like containers comprising, in combination, a longitudinally reciprocating carrier having a horizontal carrying rail and a plurality of can supporting members positioned obliquely above said carrying rail to support the containers being conveyed on the rail in an inclined positioma stationary horizontal supporting rail spaced from and parallel to said carrying rail and disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane thereto, means for longitudinally reciprocating said carrier relative to said stationary supporting rail in a forward container-carrying stroke and in a return stroke, laterally reciprocating containerpositioning means including a plurality of spaced container engaging members positioned to shift the containers carried by the reciprocating carrier to and from supporting engagement on the stationary supporting rail, and means for reciprocating said laterally-reciprocating means in timed relationship with the reciprocating movements of said carrier, said laterally reciprocating means being reciprocated to remove the containers from the reciprocating carrier during the return stroke of the carrier, said laterally reciprocating means being movable at right angles to the vertical plane through the stationary supporting rail.

WILHELM LUDWIG HEINRICH ERNST WiiRDEMANN.

No references cited. 

